


Sleepless Nights

by HarperJean



Category: Hanson (Band)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-17
Updated: 2018-01-17
Packaged: 2019-03-06 04:12:31
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 922
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13403214
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HarperJean/pseuds/HarperJean
Summary: Natalie and Zac find solace in each other.Requested by boomersoonerash!





	Sleepless Nights

**Author's Note:**

  * For [boomersoonerash](https://archiveofourown.org/users/boomersoonerash/gifts).



Natalie crept down the stairs, the dim light from her phone screen illuminating her path. When she arrived in the kitchen she glanced over at the stove, sighing heavily at the sight of unwashed pots from dinner and the bright green numbers telling her it was 4am. She had hoped that once she was done having kids, the sleepless nights would be behind her, but apparently she had been wrong. She hadn’t been sleeping well for weeks. 

She sat down at the kitchen table and wrapped her robe tightly around her body. She set her phone in front of her and looked at it warily, trying her best to keep her fingers from pulling up a text conversation and seeing if someone else was also awake. She knew he would be. She knew he usually was. 

Before she had the chance to fully talk herself out of it, the screen lit up with an incoming message. 

_You awake?_

She couldn’t help the smile that crept to her lips. It was as though he had heard her thoughts. She scooped up her phone and replied furiously. 

_Unfortunately. What’s up?_

As she waited for a response she padded to the refrigerator and scanned its contents, squinting in the bright light that was now spilling across the kitchen floor. She heard her phone buzz while she was extracting a bottle of orange juice. The thought of polishing off the open bottle of wine crossed her mind, but she figured it was almost time for Willa to emerge from her bedroom anyway. That girl was bright eyed and bushy tailed at 6am nearly every day, and Natalie resented her for it. _Just let me sleep_ she would think as her daughter pounced on the bed, ready for breakfast. _I used to be able to sleep. I miss being able to sleep._ And then, she would inevitably feel bad about thinking of her life before her children, who she really did love dearly. It was just that she was always tired. Always. 

_Bad fight earlier, so I never came to bed. I’m just in my office._

_Have you been in there all night?_

_Yeah._

_Jeez, Zac. What was the fight about?_

Natalie wondered what Kate would do if she found out that her best friend had become her husband’s confidante. _Maybe it would be okay_ , she reasoned. After all, they were family now. They had been for years. They were sisters; at least that’s what they playfully called each other when they were tipsy and feeling 18 again. So then why did both she and Zac delete every text conversation they had? Why did they never really talk in person? Why did they hide it? She had a feeling that Kate wouldn’t exactly be on board, considering the content of all of their discussions. 

They were both unhappy, and if Natalie had learned anything in the past year, it was that misery loves company. 

_The same shit we always fight about. She never wants to have sex. I always have to instigate it. She complains. Rinse and repeat._

_Yikes_

_Yeah._

It had been months since Zac and Kate had had sex, and Natalie hated the fact that she knew the intimate details of their personal lives, but at this point they were too far in to stop it. It was mostly the two of them swapping stories and baring their souls; their innermost thoughts. Natalie loved having someone who listened to her so intensely, and she loved being that person for Zac. They rarely ever crossed any sort of line, as far as she was concerned. 

But they had crossed it. And the next morning she methodically deleted the texts, just like every morning. 

It was a few weeks back. They had both been at an event in Tulsa, both of them hanging onto the arm of their respective spouse. Natalie was so relieved to have a night out that she immediately drank too much on an empty stomach. Taylor drank enough for the both of them, so it was easy to sneak her phone out and look at the text Zac had sent from across the table. 

_You look amazing._

She mouthed “thank you” to him, and he smiled widely back at her, causing her heart to flutter. Throughout the night he texted her about his sexual frustrations, and she responded in kind, simply because only one person had bothered to tell her she looked beautiful that night, and it hadn’t been her husband. 

Later that evening, after dinner was served, Natalie went to the bathroom and gave Zac a knowing look as she was extracting herself from her seat. He followed behind her a few minutes later and met her in the dark hallway leading away from the banquet hall. They kissed fiercely, and her whole body screamed that it was wrong, but she didn’t care. His hands found their way under her skirt and into her panties. She realized how long it had been since she had been touched. 

They never talked about that night, and she chalked it up to drunkeness. But they still texted each other from the comfort of their own homes when they couldn’t sleep. She wondered if it would ever happen again, or if one of them would even bring it up. She longed for those few stolen moments in the hallway. How desperate it felt. How urgent. 

_I’m sorry, Zac._

She pressed send and took a gulp of orange juice, wishing it was something stronger. 

_Yeah, me too._


End file.
